††††††††††† To start
off my report to you this month I will recap the presentation we had on July
14th in the yard. A reprint of my speech is included for those of you who
couldnít be there for this small but important event. I wanted to thank the
people responsible for their help in getting the 44-ton locomotives to our
Museum, and also promote what we have to offer as a museum to our guests.

††††††††††† We began
the day with a quick tour of the building, the layouts, displays, gift shop,
library, etc. We then took a ride on the #41 RDC Budd car
to the turntable, gave rides, and finally made our presentation at the
roundhouse area. After my speech, Con-gresswoman
Nancy Johnson spoke words of praise about the Museum, followed by speeches by
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, and Mike Toner,
Vice-President of Marine Operations at General Dynamics. I think everyone had a
grand morning celebrating the occasion, but more than that, celebrating our
Museum and what it is. Many thanks to our staff who also made
this day possible by being there that morning.

††††††††††† Good morning. On behalf of the Danbury
Railway Museum, I would like to welcome: Congresswoman Mrs. Nancy Johnson, The
Honorable Mark Boughton, Mayor of the City of
Danbury, Executive Vice-President of Marine Operations at General Dynamics in
Groton, Mr. Mike W. Toner, members of the press, and volunteers and members of
the Danbury Railway Museum.

††††††††††† We have gathered here today to
celebrate and thank all those involved in saving the two General Electric
44-ton locomotives from extinction. Through your help and determination we have
successfully preserved two pieces of our railroading past, and of our Stateís
industrial heritage. We truly appreciate your considering us and thinking of us
for this most gracious donation to our Museumís growth and future.

††††††††††† I must say that this is and was
quite a story or saga right from its inception over six months ago. With many
false starts and misconceptions, we were able to persevere with the support and
help of many of the people here today. I will add though that not everyone who
participated in this project could attend todayís celebration, and my thanks go
out to them also. I would like to acknowledge Peter Richter and Pete La Bouliere of CDOT, Bob Walkup and Dave Ritcowski
of Providence & Worcester Railroad, Bob Bass of the Housatonic Railroad,
and Pete Holmberg of the Bethel Fire Department. These were people behind the
scenes who, like me, had a vision of saving these locomotives.

††††††††††† Our initial plans for the
locomotives are to assess them mechanically, and to put ďCarolĒ or NH 0814,
into our rail yard tour service. As time and finances permit, we will do the
same with ďDianeĒ, the ex-Union Pacific locomotive.

††††††††††† In closing, once again, I thank you
all for your continued support in this project and your support for the DanburyRailwayMuseum.

††††††††††† In other
news, we are still in dire need of people coming forward to volunteer in the
same areas that Iíve been writing about for several months now. We still need someone to coordinate our volunteers and deploy
them into our many different departments. The Museum must stay open, but
without front desk staff during the day, the doors will close. It has been an
embarrassment to us all that we have had to close early a couple of times in
the past several weeks. The Museum also needs someone with marketing experience
to come forward to promote the Museum on a regular basis. Advertising and
marketing our product is so very important for our continued growth and financial
stability. I must also let you know that we must have a more stable training
program for our new train crews. Itís very hard for me to tell a new volunteer
to wait until I can find someone to train him; that tells that person that thereís
really nothing there and that volunteer doesnít come back again. What a loss!
Iíve said this time and time again: itís the volunteers that make or break this
organization. I, as President, need your help. Please come forward to help us
grow.